PURPOSE
A recent news report from Biloxi, Mississippi, powerfully illustrates the role of purpose in making life worth living. A young woman, a dancer, twenty- four years old, jumped from a wharf in the colorful little town in an attempt to commit suicide. As she later put it, she was “tired of living.” A young man saw her jump from the wharf and splash into the water. Forgetting that he himself didn’t know how to swim, he stripped off his coat and leaped from the wharf after her in a blind attempt to save a fellow human being. He began to thrash about in the water and was in serious danger of drowning when the young dancer, her own despair momentarily forgotten, began to paddle her way toward him. As he was gulping water and gasping for breath, she grabbed hold of him and pulled him safely ashore. Instead of ending her own life she had saved the life of another. In that crucial…
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
